Baked Stuffed Bell Peppers With Beef Recipe

This healthy and easy dinner idea combines ground beef, rice, and sweet and colorful red, yellow and orange bell peppers for an easy dinner any night of the week.

Until my 20’s, bell peppers and I were far, far, far from fast friends.

I viewed the crunchy, green orbital vegetables with a look of disdain whenever they appeared on pizzas or veggie platter plates and as a kid, wrinkled my nose and plotted how to ditch every single bite in a napkin when my mom served them up for dinner.

But just like taking leisurely car rides on a Sunday afternoon, reading novels with long words you finally understand but now need readers to see, and taking hot baths (give me a tub every night of the week!), eating the food you hated as a kid suddenly becomes not. that. bad. as an adult. And sometimes, even really, really good.

And whenever I can serve a meal in it’s own vessel, it’s bonus time. Enter, stuffed bell peppers.

Bell peppers are now a vegetable I enjoy, and even crave and while I’m a fan of the good old standard green bell pepper, it’s the sweet reds, yellows, oranges and purples that really get my goat.

Today’s selection of peppers comes from a mix of big box Costco varieties (red, yellow and orange) and ultra local farmer’s market (more yellows and purple) for a rainbow of sweetness begging to be stuffed with nary a gnarly green pepper in site.

Ever since I was a starry eyed pre-teen, I’ve been a fan of drawing rainbows. Now I eat them.

So I went back to the memory of my mom’s recipe of stuffed bell peppers with ground beef and rice in a tomato based sauce, and my man embellished it with chunks of mushroom and fresh cut corn and a sprinkle of herbs and red pepper flakes.

We must have both been feeling the twang of comfort food because when we did our daily exchange of, “what do you want for dinner?,” we both had the same craving for stuffed peppers, but this time a little more hearty, a little more basic but just as comforting.

How to Make Stuffed Bell Peppers

This is one of those throw what you have in the fridge type of recipes. Use my portions as guidelines but definitely put on your experimental hat when choosing ingredients:

Red, yellow, orange or even green bell peppers

Lean ground beef

Mushrooms

White rice (you can use brown rice, farro or quinoa, too)

Tomato sauce

Corn, celery and garlic

Cheese, I added some grated fontina, but you could use monterey jack or mozzarella or whatever’s on hand.

If you prefer green bell peppers, certainly use them instead of or in addition to this bevy of colorful beauties.

We cut the tops off of the peppers to stuff the whole thing with beefy goodness. If you prefer smaller portions, cut the peppers in half and serve open faced.

How Long Do You Cook Stuffed Bell Peppers

A common question is, how long do you cook stuffed peppers? I pre-cook my peppers with a simple sprinkle of kosher salt to the interior of the peppers and then a 5 minute blast in the microwave pre-cooks these peppers and cuts your baking time in half.

Then, they just need to cook in the oven for 20 minutes or until fork-tender and the cheese begins to bubble.

What Can Be Served With Stuffed Peppers?

Stuffed bell peppers are really a whole mean in one, so all you really need to complete your easy, healthy dinner, is a simple salad and an easy dessert.

If you make this recipe, please let me know! Bookmark this recipe and leave a comment below, or take a photo and tag me on Instagram with #foodiecrusheats.

Stuffed Bell Peppers Recipe

AuthorHeidi

I use red, orange and yellow bell peppers to cover all the colors of the rainbow, and stuff them with lean ground beef, mushrooms and top with a little cheese for a good healthy dose of Vitamin C, protein, and carbs at the same time.

Ingredients

1 pound lean ground beef, 90% lean

4 mushrooms, chopped

3 ears of fresh corn kernals, or 1 1/2 cups frozen corn

2 ribs of celery, chopped thinly

1 medium onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 14.5 ounce cans petite diced tomatoes with juice

2 tablespoons concentrated tomato paste

2 tablespoons basil

1 tablespoon oregano

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 1/2 cups cooked long grain ric

1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley

6 bell peppers

1 cup shredded fontina cheese or monterey jack cheese

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Brown the ground beef in a large fry pan over medium high heat for 5 minutes or until cooked almost through. Add the mushrooms, corn kernals, chopped celery, onion and garlic and cook until vegetables are softened. Stir in the diced tomatoes, tomato paste, basil, oregano and red pepper flakes. Season with kosher salt and ground pepper to taste and cook for 15-20 minutes. Stir in cooked rice and chopped parsley and cook for another 5 minutes or until the rice is warmed through.

Meanwhile, cut off the tops of the peppers and spoon out the ribs and seeds, then rinse. Lightly sprinkle the inside of the peppers with kosher salt and place in a microwave safe dish with 1/4 cup water. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave for 5 minutes or until they start to soften.

Transfer to a 3 quart baking dish and fill the peppers with the hot meat and rice mixture. Sprinkle the tops with cheese and bake for 20 minutes or until peppers are tender and cheese is browned. Serve hot.

I had no idea that sprinkling the peppers with salt and microwaving them for 5 minutes pre-cooks them. We love stuffed peppers and I pre-cook them in a little salted boiling water for a minute or so before baking but I’d much rather microwave them. What a smart idea. I’ll be making them this week with your tip. Thanks!

Despite being a pretty adventurous eater as a kid, I’m pretty sure peppers weren’t my favorite. I have grown to really appreciate their unique flavor and will often stuff them with quinoa or wheat berries or some other grain. These look so wonderful!

GORGEOUS! These are seriously calling my name! Up until last year (so tack on a few years after I turned 20 lol) stuffed peppers and I weren’t friends either…now I’m totally in love with them. Pinning to try this week!

Love the tip about zapping the peppers in the microwave…I am going to have to use those the next time I make them. Along with the other tips…stuffed peppers tend to be a ‘kitchen sink’ type meal for us as well!
Gorgeous pics by the way!

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These were so damm good, I used ground italian sausage instead on beef. Also with the portion size of the stuffing that the recipe calls for it was enough to stuff at least 8 large peppers…which was fine by me..This would be a great stuffing for so many things..Pork chops,shells,ravioli,empanadas the list goes on…. thankx, the “carpenter cook”

Can I substitute the 1 pound of ground beef with half pound ground lamb and half pound ground turkey? We already eat enough ground beef as a family and I’m trying to introduce the children to something different.

This was outstanding, and I was out of a lot of the ingredients – I was out of celery and mushrooms and had to sub ketchup for tomato paste. Nevertheless, this still came out just perfect. Love the microwave technique to soften the peppers before baking!!

This stuffing is very close to meatloaf, so if your husband does not like peppers, you might divide the filling and add an egg for binder to half the mixture. When ready to bake, mound up half the mixture to make a mini meatloaf for those who would prefer no bell pepper. I might just do that tonight!

Omgosh what a delicious meal! Perfect for my family of 5 and still have for lunch tomorrow!
Great tip about the peppers. I also substituted the rice for half cup brown and 1 cup of dark quinoa everything else was kept the same, and everyone including my daughter the picky eater, enjoyed this meal 🙂 thank you!!

I do not recommend microwaving anything wrapped in plastic. You do not want plastisizers leaching into your food. What I do in this case in place the peppers on top of a double boiler and steam them for 15 minutes. Takes a bit more time but is far better than nuking it in a microwave wrapped in plastic.

You are not going to share? I agree with you, every single reply was from someone who HAD NOT EVEN TRIED THE RECIPE????? Correct me if I’m wrong, but why waste yours and my time if all you have to offer is “(it looks good or I’ll try I it!”

I wanted to make stuffed bell peppers tonight and came across this recipe. it looked delicious. I only added Anaheim peppers, a few eggs since I didn’t have tomato paste, Old Bay seasoning, celery salt and a 1/4 tsp habanero pepper. They were incredible. Even without my changes, they would have been just as delicious. Thank you!!

I used 3 very large and juicy German Johnson tomatoes and it was really wonderful and juicy! I also put a layer of Monterey Jack cheese in the middle in addition to the top. Used the same amount of cheese as your recipe, just divided it to make it more decadent throughout. Thanks for such a great stuffed pepper recipe!!!

Made this dish the other night.First time I made stuffed instead of classic green bells & with this recipe it turned out awesome!…
My roommate eats very unhealthy and fatty foods,so even though he said he liked it,..I was happy with leftovers ……new fav!Thanks!

This was absolutely delicious. I made a few substitutions/additions: added sweet Italian sausage to the ground beef, no mushrooms, basmati rice instead of long grain. I also drained a little bit of the liquid that accumulated while cooking (reserved some) and finally sprinkled Monterey jack shredded cheese over top then baked. AMAZING.

Just made a version of this tonight! Thanks for the recipe. I had to make some adjustments based on what I had and my picky husband. I omitted the mushrooms, celery, and red pepper flakes (which would have been lovely). Also I ran out of oregano so I subbed the oregano, basil, and parsley for 3 tbsp Italian seasoning. Also I only had instant rice so I added 3/4 cup of water to the mixture, brought it to a boil, added 3/4 cup of instant rice, covered, and let sit for 5 minutes (off of the heat). I was worried there was too much liquid but it was great after the 5 minutes. I also used Colby Jack and Parmesan cheeses. So good! I loved the suggestion of Italian sausage. The touch of heat would be nice so I will be adding that to my portion next time!

Love this recipe and just made it, BUT I am going to refrigerate for about 4 hours before putting in the oven. How much longer do you think to ad for cold stuffed peppers. I think I will put foil over for a bit and then uncover and add cheese 10 mins before. Any suggestions?
Thanks for the recipe
Rosemary

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Thank You for, at the very least, trying the recipe, rather than wasting time posting, sounds good, I’ll try it when I get around to it. Let us know when you actually try it. I am am not singling out any one person, but if your going to take the time to post about it, at the very least, make it first, then offer suggestions or alterations. Thank You for All of the people I seem to have upset. I assure you, I meant no harm, I just want your your unadultered opinion and suggestions, even alternatives. Thank You for your time and consideration. Looks to me, that my post has been edited and decided inappropriate. Here’s hoping they let me post this..

I have to admit that there are foods & fruits that i also hated when i was young such as pasta, water melon and avocado, but as time went by i came to adopt to them especially when i realized their worth in my body. What a great blog

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